Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Trends
Glenn Lucke, writing at CGO, commented on trends:
But that said, I wonder about turning this same eye on the church. How much stuff do we do simply for the sake of it being "cool?"
I have always thought that being a Christian was about permanence. It is supposed to be that which is important and what truly matters - such things do not change. Certainly we can agree that being a Christian is about eternity. "Cool" matters this instant, and that is about it. We live lives near testament to that fact. We are alternately nostalgic and disgusted by what was cool just last decade. As our lives grow longer, cool seems less and less important, for it seems sillier and sillier.
Now, multiply those decades by millennia. The most important function f the church is not to be cool, but to preserve that which transcends cool.
In my estimation the kid had coughed up $155 from his wallet to place in various Oakley employee wallets. For what? For cool.Interesting point, just a couple of comments to make here. Sometimes there is an actual difference in branding. It's not always about selling the label - it usually is in fashion - but not in other things. Take food for example. Brand name canned goods, Green Giant for example, as usually the pick of the crop. Lesser quality produce goes into secondary labels or generics. In such cases there is value in the labels. This is not always the case, but it can be. we need to be careful before we go on auto-pilot to buy the "cheapest."
If it were my money, I still wouldn't spend the $155 on cool. But it's not my money, it's God's money. Is this the best way to steward God's money, purchasing cool? I think of messages I've heard from Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll recently about idolatry, and I don't know how Christians square their stewardship of God's money with playing ball with the idol of being cool and being fashionable.
But that said, I wonder about turning this same eye on the church. How much stuff do we do simply for the sake of it being "cool?"
I have always thought that being a Christian was about permanence. It is supposed to be that which is important and what truly matters - such things do not change. Certainly we can agree that being a Christian is about eternity. "Cool" matters this instant, and that is about it. We live lives near testament to that fact. We are alternately nostalgic and disgusted by what was cool just last decade. As our lives grow longer, cool seems less and less important, for it seems sillier and sillier.
Now, multiply those decades by millennia. The most important function f the church is not to be cool, but to preserve that which transcends cool.
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